Identity

            People assume identity is race, or sex, or gender, or sexual orientation, or religion. Typically, they only think about whichever one is most important to them, or most readily visible. Oftentimes this is limited to a race or sex identity. The truth is, however, that every person is a combination of all of these factors at any given time, and therefore they always play a role in who we are and what’s at stake, even if it is not immediately obvious.

            Identity is important only because it defines us- the details that make us who we are, the marriage of self-esteem and self-expression. Identity allows us to decide who we are and what we enjoy, and it allows us to discuss such things with others who may enjoy different things, and the combination of these tidbits makes for an expansive and enriching experience.

            Identity is harmed when people ascribe untrue or inaccurate qualities to a particular identity, or magnify or mitigate factors involved with it. This typically includes an inheritance of the quality in question on the part of the entire group . When such misassociation occurs, it may create a negative, inconvenient, or otherwise harmful perception of the person/people involved.

            Additionally, given the multifaceted nature of identity, it is entirely possible for the focus on some identities to obscure or deny attention to other identities(for better or worse). In the realm of social justice, this creates problems because there are specific circumstances and issues that exist only for a combination of identities; circumstances or issues that do not exist, or are not nearly as problematic for either identity on its own. As a result, solutions and attention put forth toward one identity may overlook or marginalize those in need of more specialized assistance.

            Because people may only perceive one facet of identity when observing or interacting with others, it is easy to forget this reality of a multifaceted identity(which truly is every identity) enduring  trials associated with each facet. Furthermore, the images associated with certain identities can be so prevalent as to completely encompass(and erase) other identities, both within the same individual, or within other individuals. In effect, they simply don’t matter in light of the main identity.

            Therefore, identity is also harmed when only some identities are respected while others are ignored, mitigated. This gives the (false) impression that some identities are more important than others, and because of that importance, that those with such identities deserve the utmost in resources, respect, and opportunity, and those without are marginalized and disregarded. Left unchecked, the demeaning  of one group by another may lead to the internalization of such misconceptions; people of ‘lesser’ identities may begin to perceive that they are worth less, are less important, are less capable. This is compounded by the taking of any meritable ideas or customs within the marginalized culture; taking away the positive destroys ‘proof’ of the greatness of some identities, adding that greatness to the more popular identity.

            However, it should not be a contest to begin with; ideas, customs, and cultures are beautiful things, and that truth is not dictated by who has them. It is the generating of such that makes life interesting, and the combination of those ideas, those cultures, through discourse and discussion that unlocks our full potential; who individually is the best is impossible to measure, and even if it weren’t so, we still get further by pooling all of our talents. For that reason, differences are to be celebrated, for they allow us to reach further together than we could alone.

            It is by talking to people, by reaching out to those who are different, that we begin to understand. When we listen and ask questions, we are closer to truly understanding the complete identities of one another.  In that understanding, we realize, we have far more in common than we do that sets us apart, even if it may seem that way at first- and of those things that set us apart, they are not evil or worthless in and of themselves. They’re just things, and we all have things about us- they simply define who we are.

Magnification

Magnification: The action or process of magnifying something or being magnified, especially visually. -Google

            Magnification is an emphasis or the enlarging of the worth or value of a particular quality one has or action one performs. The opposite of mitigation, it serves to make the given quality or action the sole source of consideration for the targeted group or individual. In a sense, one can think of magnification as the skewed perspective on a ‘redeeming quality.’

            Magnification comes in two forms- typically it is used to define others by a single quality. Using magnification in this way allows one to limit their observation or understanding of the other to the one quality or practice in order to avoid the difficulties or complications of learning more. Magnification can also be used among one’s own group for similar reasons; on some level it may be a lack of learning(or perhaps more accurately, denial or refusal) , and on another, it can be a form of mitigation; magnifying one quality or trait in order to overlook or excuse others that would tarnish the value of the magnified quality or action.

            The problem with such behavior is that it assigns (often false) value to the given quality, and people perceive this single factor as more important than other traits that make up the person or group, which makes an objective understanding and judgment impossible. Much like mitigation, this allows for a hyper-positive or hyper-negative view of a group when the reality of any group is likely somewhere in between. Magnifying the negative actions of an individual of an ‘other’ group, and then applying those actions or opinions to their entire group makes for a reason(RE:, excuse, ‘justification’) to marginalize or discriminate against them. Conversely, magnifying the positive of an individual in one’s own group allows for the dismissal of the negative, allowing them to continue harmful or discriminatory behavior. In effect, individual, non-universal, non-defining factors become so enlarged that they are then perceived as redeeming or damning qualities(often for the entire group) when they should not be.

            Both Mitigation and Magnification are about avoiding a closer look at humanity- one’s neighbor’s and one’s own. The best thing we can do as individuals is alter our perception.  Seeking information from multiple perspectives, multiple sources, is key. When people behave in questionable ways, we must ask ourselves if those traits are inherently positive or negative, or merely different.  By constantly comparing what we believe(or rather, what we have been told) about others with what we actually see in those others in our daily lives- their actions, their traits, good and bad, we challenge the stereotypes that define and separate us, and we break down the lenses that keep us from seeing who we all are- individuals.